Mass Art Students Show True Colors at IDSA Northeast

This weekend at the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) Northeast, I learned from Gary Natsume, Vice President of ECCO Design, that color is "one of the most critical elements that define our cultural nuances and identity."

As Mass Art students prepared to attend IDSA Northeast, they woke Friday morning to no public transportation and a shelter in place order in the Longwood/Fenway area of Boston, due to last week’s tragic events.

Mass Art students rallied around their merit award representative, Carlos Escobar, and found one car to drive to the event in Hartford, Connecticut by Friday afternoon. A total of 45 students and their faculty advisor, Lars Fischer, made it Saturday morning to cheer on Carlos.

In 10 minutes, Carlos presented his portfolio that consisted of three projects. I listened to the multiple redesigns for product improvement of the "dish" project and the design research project to make traveling feel like home. After three weeks traveling this month – I listened.

The project that stood out for me was the "red4life" project, for Carlos used design to make a difference in his own Boston neighborhood.

I have walked these neighboorhood streets 1000 times from Mass Art on Huntington Ave to Copley Square. Students continue to inspire me with their true colors of design. Marie

Marie Planchard is Director of Education & Early Engagement, SOLIDWORKS. She is responsible for global development of content and social outreach for the SOLIDWORKS products across all levels of learning including educational institutions, Fab Labs, and entrepreneurship.